Head turns upside down

K.Raley

In the Brooder
Apr 12, 2018
5
13
24
I have been raising chickens for years, but in the last year several of my birds have experienced some unusual events. It started with a young bird about five months old. I asked a USDA inspector what was going on. He said that it must be a lack of some vitamin. After a few days, I lost the bird. A few weeks later one of my hens had the same symptoms. Again, I lost the bird. This has happened several times and I am at a loss. I have been feeding the same feed the whole time and had no problem for several years.

The bird's head starts to turn from side to side. Then they will lean their head back to rest in the middle of their backs. Eventually the bird will rotate their head around and be looking at the sky.

Please, does anyone have a suggestion as to how I can stop this madness?
 
It sounds like wry neck or torticolis, which is a neurological symptom. Vitamin deficiency (thiamine or vitamin E usually,) head injury, heredity, or viruses such as Mareks disease and orhers can be causes.

What do you feed your chickens? Vitamins can leech out of old or outdated feed. Buying smaller bags or checking dates may help. Give vitamin E, B1 thiamine, and some chopped egg for selnenium with food and water. They may need to be fed.

If it happens again, I would send the body off to the state vet for a necropsy. Sorry for your problems. Here is an article to read:
http://www.browneggblueegg.com/Article/Crookneck/Crookneck.html
 
It sounds like wry neck or torticolis, which is a neurological symptom. Vitamin deficiency (thiamine or vitamin E usually,) head injury, heredity, or viruses such as Mareks disease and orhers can be causes.

What do you feed your chickens? Vitamins can leech out of old or outdated feed. Buying smaller bags or checking dates may help. Give vitamin E, B1 thiamine, and some chopped egg for selnenium with food and water. They may need to be fed.

If it happens again, I would send the body off to the state vet for a necropsy. Sorry for your problems. Here is an article to read:
http://www.browneggblueegg.com/Article/Crookneck/Crookneck.html
 
agree with Eggcesive, something is going on and is best to send one to lab to find out for sure. Best to you. Very sorry for your loss.
 
I feed a mixture of Chops, scratch, and 18% laying pellets. I have done this for years with no problem. I get plenty of eggs, but hate to lose any of my birds. This has only happened in the last few months.
 
Since most commercial chicken feeds are well balanced with all of the nutrients for chickens, I would probably use that for at least 90% of their intake. For awhile I would use Poultry Nutridrench or Poultry Cell to give them a boost.

My chickens would prefer scratch or meat to layer feed any day, but I only give them an occasional treat. Our grandparents fed their chickens leftovers and corn, but it isn’t the best for them.

Still, though, a necrropsy might get you an answer for what has been causing this. The link below gives a list of state poultry labs and contact info:
http://www.metzerfarms.com/PoultryLabs.cfm
 

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